Tiger Woods doubted he could return to competitive golf

Tiger Woods admitted he doubted whether he could return to
competitive golf because of his back ailments. File Photo by Kevin
Dietsch/UPI

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Tiger Woods
admitted Tuesday that he once doubted if he would ever be able to play
golf competitively after being sidelined for the last 15 months due to a
lengthy recovery from multiple back surgeries.

Woods, 40, will make his long-awaited return
this weekend at the Hero World Challenge, a tournament that benefits his
foundation at Albany Country Club in Nassau, Bahamas.

"Not being able to get out of bed, not being
able to move, how can I expect to come out here and swing a golf club at
120 miles an hour and be ballistic when I can't even get out of bed?
So, yeah, there was a lot of trepidation and times where I thought ...
was it realistic?," Woods said in his pre-tournament press conference.

Woods last played at the Wyndham Championship
in August 2015. He attempted to make a comeback in October at the
Safeway Open, but pulled out before the event began citing health
concerns.

The 14-time major championship winner and
former longtime No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings believes he can be
competitive among the field.

"I can play, I can compete and hopefully I can get out there and shoot something," said Woods, now ranked 898th in the world.

Aside from Woods, no golfer in the Hero World Challenge field has a world ranking lower than 38th.